Give me Liberty

Monday, Dec. 5 – I am enjoying life aboard the Carnival cruise ship Liberty, which docked this morning for a few hours at the popular Mexican island of Cozumel.

Cruise ships are sometimes criticized for fostering the impression among their guests that they are still in the U.S., and not in some foreign land where the language, food, money, laws, and customs are different than at home. Here on the Liberty, most of us feel as “free” we do at home.

Waiting in the breakfast line on the Lido deck, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was traveling with her father: “My husband is at home,” she said. “He works for the Federal government, so he can’t be here.

“He’s forbidden to set foot in Mexico,” she said.

It was a surprise to me, and now I wonder how many Americans are not free to visit certain countries – even countries with which we have diplomatic relations.

Even on a ship named Liberty

Share this:

1 Comment

Interesting story. When I graduated from high school in Taiwan, I wanted to return to the U.S. via the Trans-Siberian Railroad, but my father (a U.S. Navy officer) wouldn’t hear of it: My trip would have been bad for his career.

Side note: On the Cruise Critic forums, I’ve seen Americans who have traveled on Costa cruise ships complain because Costa uses the euro as its onboard currency. (One has to wonder why they’d expect an Italian cruise line NOT to use the euro.)